Google has just acquired Nest Labs, the maker of the Nest Learning Thermostat and Protect smoke detector, for $3.2 billion in cash. Nest reinvented unloved but important home products, like the thermostat and the smoke alarm focusing on simple, beautiful and thoughtful hardware and services. Google CEO Larry Page announced this on his Google+ stream:

Google is being quick to assure users that Nest will continue to operate under its own brand. While the transaction is subject to the usual regulatory review, Google says it expects the sale to close within the next few months. Google Ventures had already invested millions of dollars in Nest, so the company has been on Mountain View’s radar for some time now.

How Google plans to use Nest is still a mystery, but the company obviously sees it as an important part of its future. A combination of Nest’s home solutions coupled with Google’s language recognition could give Google its strongest path yet into your home.

“Google will help us fully realize our vision of the conscious home and allow us to change the world faster than we ever could if we continued to go it alone,” writes co-founder Tony Fadell on the Nest blog.“We’ve had great momentum, but this is a rocket ship.”

“We’re thrilled to join Google. With their support, Nest will be even better placed to build simple, thoughtful devices that make life easier at home, and that have a positive impact on the world.” Nest CEO Tony Fadell said in a statement.

Nest will continue to offer apps for both iOS and Android. That means Apple fans will not be left disappointed. There’s also a possibility that Google’s other products will eventually integrate more tightly with the Nest lineup, but so far, Google is staying mum. Until that day comes, we’ll leave you to speculate — feel free to leave your best guesses in the comments.

LG yesterday announced a new set of fitness-oriented earphones named LG HRM EARPHONE (FR74), which are designed to offer real-time heart monitoring. With this announcement, LG Electronics is making its first move into the fitness tech market. These earphones comes with a small medallion that is strapped on an arm or waistband. It can track both metabolic rate and maximum oxygen consumption while allowing users to listen to music.

The LG Heart Rate Earphones use sensor technology to measure blood flow signals from the auricle of the ear. This captures biometric data such as heart rate and maximal oxygen consumption. The add-on medallion that connects to the earphones serves as a data processing hub that sends real-time biometric information to your smartphone via Bluetooth.

Also compatible with third party fittness platforms.

In addition, the Heart Rate Monitor Earphones include an accelerometer that measures a wide range of data, including distance, calories burned, steps taken, and more that syncs to various apps, including the LG Fitness app and third-party platforms such as MyFitnessPal, Runkeeper and MapMyFitness. The earphones also work alongside the recently announced Lifeband Touch activity tracker.

The earphones will ship in the first half of 2014, starting first in the U.S. market before rolling out to other countries and will retail for $179.99.

The consumers were not pleased with the design Samsung brought with the launch of Galaxy S4. Most of the people were not able to easily differentiate between Galaxy S4 and Galaxy S3 because of the similar design profiles. Now Samsung has admitted that the S5 would likely pack a substantially different design.

‘A back to basics’ rethink for the Galaxy S5

Talking to Bloomberg, Exec Lee Young Hee told that the new flagship will go “back to basics,” adding that “mostly, it’s about the display and the feel of the cover.” It’ll also accompanied with a brand new version of the Galaxy Gear Smartwatch, which is promised to have “more advanced functions” and an improvement over bulky design. There is also a possibility of eye-scanner sensor in the handset for greater security, though that’s still being studied.

Farther down the road, Samsung said that it’s looking at significant changes for the Galaxy Note 3’s successor in order to target it at professionals who are “willing to pay more for handsets”, something they have started with the recently announced Pro series tablets. Finally, Lee revealed that the Galaxy S5 will arrive in March or April after Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. So what else you expect from Samsung in its upcoming flagship? Leave your opinion in comments.

Samsung’s new Pro series tablets makes a significant step toward the company leaving behind the traditional Android interface in favor of something more graphical and immediate. The new tablets, which go up to sizes as big as 12.2-inches, are designed to, in Samsung’s words,

“Redefine what a tablet can do.”

The NotePro and TabPro tablets looks similar to Galaxy Note 10.1 – 2014 Edition, with faux-leather backs and silver trim. Just 8mm thick, theses things are slim and relatively light weight. The main difference is that the NotePro supports the S-Pen and the TabPro does not. Otherwise, the devices share the same internals.

The big visual innovation with the NotePro and TabPro tablets is the all new User Interface something Samsung calls Magazine UX. It’s Windows 8-like, with various tiles that let users organize their favorite content from apps and feeds. The devices also feature a multi window mode that allow the screen to be split into four different windows. The Galaxy NotePro and TabPro also come with a Remote PC app that allows users to connect with their home or office PC from the tablet. It also comes pre-installed with Cisco WebEx Meetings for web conferencing and Samsung’s e-Meeting collaboration app.

Samsung is also bringing in premium and subscription based content to the devices, from companies such as Bloomberg Businessweek, Dropbox, Evernote, the New York Times, Sketchbook Pro and Bitcasa.

Both the NotePro and TabPro are available in Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi and 3G or Wi-Fi and LTE configurations. Other than 12.2-inch model the TabPro will also be available in 10.1-inch and 8.4-inch sizes.

The Galaxy NotePro and TabPro will be available in first quarter 2014.

Attendees at the Chaos Communications Congress in Hamburg this weekend got surprised by the NSA’s surveillance capabilities, thanks to security researcher Jacob Appelbaum. Jacob went into further detail onstage, describing several individual devices in the NSA catalog and their intended purposes.

NSA used exploits that allowed control over iOS devices and any phone communicating through GSM. Appelbaum detailed a device named NIGHTSTAND, that targets computers through packet injection using a drone or in most cases, an unmarked van. The Linux-powered device can exploit Windows systems from up to eight miles away. Nightstand may not see significant use today given that it dates back to 2008, but its existence suggests that the NSA also has newer, more advanced WiFi surveillance gear at its disposal.

Update: Cisco is formally investigating the potential hack. “On Monday, December 30th, Der Spiegel magazine published additional information about the techniques allegedly used by NSA TAO to infiltrate the technologies of numerous IT companies,” wrote senior VP John Stewart. “As a result of this new information coming to light, the Cisco Product Security Incident Response Team (PSIRT) has opened an investigation.”

A few years ago, Chromebooks were a bit of a laughing stock. They were under performing single-purpose laptops that weren’t even good at the only thing they could do (that is, surf the web). Nobody really warmed up to them, despite their low price. Early sales were more than disappointing, and even Google’s few hardware partners looked like they were only doing this as a way to court Google’s favor. The whole project seemed doomed from the start.

But somehow, over the last two years, Chromebooks went from being irrelevant to actually making a sizable dent in the laptop market. And not just in the business market. Amazon this week reported that two out of its three best-selling laptops during the holiday season were Chromebooks.

According to the latest numbers from NPD, Chromebooks accounted for 21 percent of all laptop sales and almost 10 percent of all computer sales to businesses in 2013. That’s up from virtually nothing in the year before.

Chromebooks accounts for 21 percent of all laptop sales and almost 10 percent of all computer sales in 2013

Two years ago, as per numbers shared by Google, it seemed Chromebooks were only doing somewhat well in schools. But over the last year, Google created a more diverse ecosystem of hardware partners. Chromebooks ecosystem now includes virtually all major laptop manufacturers, including the likes of Lenovo, HP, Toshiba and Acer and more to join soon.

With the $1,300 Chromebook Pixel, Google even designed its own high-end Chromebook. It was not very popular primarily because of its high price but it surely helped the ecosystem and potential business customers to warm up the idea, too. Over the last year, ChromeOS feels more like a regular PC and less than a laptop that can only run a browser. Chromebooks are usually criticized because of their limited offline capabilities and this is the one area Google’s engineers worked hard by adding more offline capabilities.

Today’s Chromebooks are nothing like the old Cr-48 prototype Google once sent out to bloggers in late 2010. And due to growing popularity of Chromebooks, Microsoft is concerned about losing market share in the business world.

45 minutes: Your body ups your dopamine production, stimulating the pleasure centers of your brain. This is physically the same way heroin works, by the way.

After 60 minutes: The phosphoric acid binds calcium, magnesium, and zinc in your lower intestine, providing a further boost in metabolism. This is compounded by high doses of sugar and artificial sweeteners also increasing the urinary excretion of calcium.

The caffeine’s diuretic properties come into play. It makes you have to pee. It is now assured that you’ll evacuate the bonded calcium, magnesium, and zinc that was headed to your bones as well as sodium, electrolytes, and water.

As the rave inside you dies down, you’ll start to have a sugar crash. You may become irritable and/or sluggish. You’ve also evacuated all the water that was in the Coke along with the valuable nutrients your body could have used for things like hydrating your system, or building strong bones and teeth.

If you can’t completely remove soft drinks from your diet then make sure you drink it in moderation.

An artificial heart from Carmat has found its way to first human patient in France. The procedure was performed on December 18, 2013 by the Georges Pompidou European Hospital team in Paris (France). “The implantation went smoothly, with the prosthesis automatically providing blood flow at physiologic conditions. The patient is currently being monitored in the intensive care unit. He is awake and talks with his family.” – Carmat

While synthetic hearts aren’t new, what sets the new Carmat “bioprosthetic” model apart is the way it uses existing biological tissue. Two chambers in the heart are divided by a membrane. In one chamber hydraulic fluid is held in place. A pump with in the heart pushes the fluid in and out of the chambers, which causes the blood to flow on the other side.

According to Piet Jansen, chief medical officer of Carmat:

The idea was to develop an artificial heart in which the moving parts that are in contact with blood are made of tissue that is [better suited] for the biological environment.

Carmat first won approval from four different cardiac centers in Saudi Arabia, Slovenia, Poland, and Belgium. The company’s home country of France eventually came on board in September and Health Minister Marisol Touraine is wasting no time in touting Carmat’s success. “This news brings great pride to France,” she told BFM TV. “It shows we are pioneers in healthcare, that we can invent, that we can carry an innovation that will also bring great hope to plenty of people.”

“We are delighted with this first implant, although it is premature to draw conclusions given that a single implant has been performed and that we are in the early postoperative phase,” Carmat’s CEO Marcelo Conviti said in a statement.

Carmat’s artificial heart weighs three times than that of human heart. It can beat for up to five years and is designed for patients suffering from end-stage heart failure. But it won’t come cheap: the device is expected to cost around 150,000 euros (over $195,000). Carmat has other patients lined up for early human trials. If the tests turn out successful, this new heart could offer some much needed hope to the roughly 5.7 million people in the United States suffering from heart failure at any given time.

So what do you think about this great medical achievement? You can also follow Feedoxy at Google+ , Facebook & Twitter and leave your comments.

Everyone got some sort of idea of how their dream home might look. Some of us have just got to have a pool, while others want clever modern design, amazing bedroom, or home theatre. No matter what it is that makes your dream home unique, here are a few examples of homes where people have been able to realize some of their greatest home design fantasies.

Warning – viewing some of these images may make you feel dissatisfied with your current home!

Aquarium Bed

Image credits: acrylicaquariums.com

Indoor-Outdoor Pool

Staircase Slide

Backyard Cinema

Image credits: fancymaterial.com

Understairs Storage

Image credits: Deriba Furniture

Backyard Fire Pit

Hammock Bed

Image credits: Le Beanock

Treehouse For Kids Room

The speculations about upcoming Samsung flagship Galaxy S5 has been started, and the first rumors to come are pretty damn crazy. According to ZDNet Korea, which has reported accurate details surrounding unannounced Samsung devices in the past, Samsung is preparing to launch a killer smartphone this coming February. The Galaxy S5 is rumored to feature an eye scanning sensor for security taking facial recognition and fingerprint scanning just another step further.

The eye-scanning/iris-recognition feature has never been used as an unlocking method on any smartphone, and if the rumour is true, Samsung would become the first handset maker to debut the feature on a smartphone. However, there is no official word from Samsung on the alleged eye-scanning feature. Another rumors include a QHD+ display at a resolution of 2560×1440 pixels, a 16MP camera and a metal construction. The Samsung Galaxy S5 is expected to come with a 5.0- or 5.2-inch display, making the pixel density an incredible 560ppi at the said resolution.

Beyond the stunning new display and a possible integrated eye scanner, Samsung’s next-generation Galaxy S5 is expected to feature a new 64-bit eight-core Exynos processor or a quad-core Snapdragon processor.

These rumors are somewhat unbelievable but who knows, Samsung may surprise us all. What are your thoughts on these rumors?